Operation Barbarossa, the attack on the Soviet Union, commenced on 22 June 1941. It became the biggest conflict in military history, with some three million German troops and about 900,000 allies facing almost 4.7 million Soviet troops. The effects would colour postwar European history for the next 50 years. This title examines the history of the conflict, and the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II, from 1941-43. The book contains numerous illustrations and photographs throughout, incuding eight fine full-page colour plates by Stephen Andrew.

DR NIGEL THOMAS is an accomplished linguist and military historian and was a Principal Lecturer in charge of the Business Language Unit at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, where he was awarded a PhD on the Eastern Enlargement of NATO. His interests are 20th century military and civil uniformed organizations, with a special interest in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe. He has recently formed his own company - Nigel Thomas Associates' (www.nt-associates.com), involved in military and business translation from French, German and Italian, military authorship and military uniform consultancy. Laszlo Szabo is an author living in Hungary and currently conducting archival research in the national archives. The author lives in Tyne and Wear, UK.